The Sages' Sheik
by ashesmuse
Summary: what if Sheik had been a real character in Ocarina of Time? shounen ai/SLASH in later chapters
1. chapter one: that pipsqueak?!

note: thanks to vincentvampy for bugging me into typing this out.  
disclaimer: Nintendo's sandbox and toys, not mine, except Sheik, kinda.  
  
The Sages' Sheik  
  
.chapter one.  
  
He crouched in a corner of Hyrule Castle's gardens,  
rolling up the cuffs on his pants. Even though he was  
nine years of age and deserving of his apprentice  
outfit, the boy couldn't fill out Impa's hand me  
downs. She had reluctantly given him the clothes that  
morning, eyeing his small form critically.  
  
"You'll be learning stealth until your body can  
handle weapons training. Agreed, Sheik?" Her cool  
voice hadn't betrayed the curl of her lips when he  
began to bounce excitedly.  
  
"Yes Impa!" Sheik had all but slammed into her body  
under the guise of a thankful hug.   
  
That had been this morning and the sun was now high  
above the castle, shining into the gardens. He had  
tripped twice on the pants and nearly strangled  
himself when the cloak caught on a hedge.  
  
He stood, checking over his new clothes. The white  
and blue banding made his arms and legs stick out from  
his body, folds rippling where the extra material  
bunched. The symbol etched onto his cloak was the  
Sheikah Eye, bright red to show his newcoming to the  
teachings. He couldn't wait to show off to Zelda his  
new status as a Sheikah apprentice. It wasn't as grand  
as being Hyrule's Heir, but it was still something he  
decided.  
  
Moving silently away from the corner, the boy hurried  
down the stone path to the courtyard. He had been on  
his way to visit Zelda in the first place, until the  
over-long pants had slowed him. Sheik paused in shock  
at the courtyard's entrance.  
  
Somebody had gotten by the guards and him as well!   
  
He snuck closer to Zelda, staring at the boy while  
listening to them talk. The boy was small, small as he  
was and dressed from hat to shorts in green clothes.  
Sheik eyed the shield and tiny sword on the boy's back  
with a bit of envy. All he was ever allowed to use  
were dumb deku nuts.  
  
A glowing ball caught his attention. Zelda's happy  
squeal informed him that it was a faerie. Sheik  
watched with some confusion as Zelda led the boy to  
the window, then quickly scribble him a letter. What  
was she playing at now? He frowned after the boy and  
his faerie, grinning as Impa dragged him out of the  
courtyard by his shield strap.  
  
"What do you think of our Hero of Time?" Zelda's soft  
voice questioned. Sheik felt his mouth drop open.  
  
"That pipsqueak is the Hero of Time?" He blurted,  
wanting to drag the boy back to look him over more  
closely.  
  
"He will be. For now, he is the faerie boy from my  
dreams, the one to collect the three Spiritual Stones  
and save Hyrule from that Gerudo thief." Zelda  
practically spat out the last words, glaring back at  
the window. She startled when Sheik began to laugh.  
  
"Him? Faerie boy? He's just a kid like us. Nobody  
would give us the Stones, even if we were to save  
Hyrule. He won't get them Zelda, I'm sure of it." He  
declared, his chuckles dying off at the determined  
look on her face.  
  
"Then you're going to have to follow Faerie boy and  
make sure he gets the Stones." She ordered, looking  
every inch Hyrule's Princess. Sheik frowned at her  
momentarily, knowing she was right...but he was a  
Sheikah apprentice now, not a dumb babysitter!  
  
"We can't afford to fail in this Sheik, or should I  
ask Impa?" Zelda was the only Hylian he knew that  
could smile so sweetly and threaten obedience at the  
same time. Impa had obviously taught her.  
  
Sheik tugged on his hood, muttering about dumb faerie  
boys and overbearing Princesses as he hurried out of  
the courtyard.  
  
-end chapter one. 


	2. chapter two: the void

disclaimer in first chapter.  
  
The Sages' Sheik  
  
.chapter two.  
  
Sheik hummed the tune quietly, ignoring Impa's 'hurry up' gestures. He barely had the songs memorized and already she was after him to teleport across Hyrule. Either that or to kill him off. Maybe that was the reason for the small number of Sheikah. He eyed Impa, who glared right back.  
  
"Get going Sheik or have you forgotten the song already?" She called out.  
  
"No! I didn't forget!" He spluttered a bit.  
  
"Then sing the blasted prelude," Impa ordered.  
  
The last syllable had past his lips when Sheik felt his stomach drop and disappear half way down his legs. He couldn't see anything, couldn't even hear his heartbeat or feel his cloak brush against his neck. Nothing.   
  
Impa found him on the floor of the Temple of Time, fingers digging into the plush carpet. Tears tracked on his face. He murmured something, eyes finally pulling away from the carpet to Impa.  
  
"What was that?" Sheik sniffled, rubbed his nose on a sleeve before repeating himself.  
  
"I don't like the nothing. Do...do I have to do that again?" He asked nervously, plucking at the carpet strands. Impa nodded and squatted down beside her apprentice.  
  
"I usually countdown from ten while in the void." She admitted, helping the boy to his feet. Impa didn't say anything as Sheik wiped the tears from his face and straightened his tunic.  
  
"We best get back to the castle. Princess Zelda wished for you to have lunch with her today. Would you like that?" Sheik nodded, grasping at Impa's hand.  
  
"I'll try counting next time Impa," He told her outside the Temple. Impa gave his hand a squeeze.  
  
Sheik regretted eating that third cupcake the moment he finished the teleportation and left the void.   
  
Impa had given him the afternoon to practice on his own the teleport songs and to get used to the void. She had been right, counting did help with the nothing. The cupcakes Zelda had given him during lunch were a bribe to keep him going on his task of stalking faerie boy.  
  
Breathing slowly to keep the cupcakes in his stomach, Sheik wrinkled his nose at the smell of molten lava and burning rocks.  
  
"Impa did say the arrival point was Death Mountain, but the crater?" He grumbled, looking around the deadly place. Hylians rarely came into the crater, something about the heat and the air destroyed their bodies. Sheikahs were a much sturdier race, Sheik thought proudly even as he held one hand to his rebelling stomach.  
  
"Faerie boy or no, he's not coming down here." He declared to nobody, heading out of the crater.  
  
"Who isn't?" Sheik stared up at the owl, reached for a deku nut incase of attack while part of him wondered if he could touch the soft-looking feathers.  
  
"A boy, dressed in green with a faerie. Have you seen him?" He asked.  
  
"Link and Navi entered the Dodongo's cavern nearly two days ago. I fear they are trapped or injured or dead." The owl answered solemnly.  
  
"Dead?" The boy squeaked. "He can't be dead! Zelda wants me to keep him safe. How can I do that if he's dead?" Sheik demanded to know from the owl, who hooted amusedly.  
  
"Link will not be killed so easily Sheikah. If you hurry, you may keep him safe for Hyrule's princess." Sheik didn't wait for the owl to finish, but sprinted down the mountain, cloak flying behind him.  
  
"You may one day keep him safe for your own sake Sheikah." The owl settled down on his perch, smiling knowingly.  
  
-end chapter two. 


	3. chapter three: monster's heart

a/n: thanks to Kristin, elora, galford340 and soulstrife *grins* I'm shocked anybody reviewed but thanks muchly!  
  
The Sages' Sheik  
  
.chapter three.  
  
The Sheikah apprenticed hopped, no it was more that he fell down the shaft into the lowest level of Dogondo's Cavern. It had taken him all night to search the upper levels for Faerie boy, a little worried he would find him chopped to little pieces by monsters. Zelda would be very angry with him if he brought back her Hero in a bottle. Impa wouldn't protect him from the princess, something about training her apprentice probably.  
  
He stumbled on the rocky ground, getting more dirt on his clothes. He muttered a word Zelda had taught him during lunch, had that been only yesterday? A loud roar made Sheik jump and throw himself against the wall as a monster rolled past him. An overgrown Dogondo, he identified, remembering Impa's lectures badly disguised as war stories.  
  
"What has it all mad..." His voice trailed off, his eyes locking onto the green blur running towards the Dogondo.  
  
Running...towards the monster?  
  
Sheik's cry of "Is he crazy!" was lost in the Dogondo's enraged scream. The faerie's comments were clearly heard as the monster began to open its mouth.  
  
Bombs? He got to use bombs? Sheik perked up, watching the Faerie boy pull out a goron explosive and throw it at the Dogondo. He smirked as the creature swallowed it. The muffled boom was a bit disappointing, but no less interesting to the Sheikah.  
  
The rest of the battle fell into a pattern. The monster would roll, nearly squishing him, then try to blast Faerie boy with fire only to receive a bomb in its gut. It would've been fun to watch, had the threat of Zelda squishing him like a bug for letting her hero get killed not been hanging over Sheik's little blond head.  
  
Sheik watched with wide eyes as the Dogondo rolled into the lava, defeated. He looked over to where Faerie boy stood, leaning heavily on his sword. His faerie was whirling, performing healing magic. Sheik knew magic couldn't fix everything, but the boy didn't look any better after the faerie was finished. Faerie boy limped towards the Dogondo's body.  
  
Sheik crept closer, avoiding the faerie's sometimes watchful eyes. The boy was trying to open the creature's chest, pushing his sword at the scales uselessly. His nose crinkled in thought, wondering what Zelda's hero was doing now. It looked like he was going after the Dogondo's heart.  
  
"When fighting monsters, it is important to not destroy their bodies after defeating them. While their bodies are inedible, their hearts often contain a liquid that increases endurance and has various healing effects." Impa had sighed then.  
  
"Sheik, don't make that face. The fluid is tasteless." Another pause. "No, it's not their blood. Monster blood, blood of any sort, is used only in casting magic."  
  
A deep throated chuckle from the Sheikah bodyguard.  
  
"No, you can't kill a monster in the princess' room. She isn't learning blood casting yet. No, I'm not telling you when she will learn it." He had the talent of making Impa do those long, deep sighs, it seemed.  
  
"Just shush, Sheik."  
  
Faerie boy knew about monster hearts, just like he did, and he wasn't even a Sheikah apprentice! Sheik peered over a haunch of Dogondo and sighed. At the rate he was cutting, Death Mountain would erupt again before the boy ever touched the heart. He frowned at the hard scales, tapping them with a finger.  
  
Yes, it would take Faerie boy forever to get through them.  
  
"Come on, just slip under the scales and grab the heart," Sheik whispered, cheering on the boy's slow hacking at the Dogondo's hide. He almost shot to his feet to cheer when the sword did just that, dropping the heart into the exhausted boy's hands.  
  
Grimacing while the boy licked his fingers clean of the liquid, Sheik still swore to himself he wouldn't dig out a monster heart even if he was half dead. The idea of it was still too gross.  
  
He blinked in surprise at the disappearing blue light. It had just appeared! Right over Faerie boy! He stood and walked around the spot, tilting his head back to peering suspiciously at the ceiling of the cavern. There was no Faerie boy, not even his little faerie was left behind.  
  
"What about me?" Sheik questioned aloud. No blue light came to rescue him from the lower level. He kicked at the Dogondo's corpse.  
  
"Fine, I'll get out of here by myself." He huffed and began to climb.  
  
end chapter three. 


	4. chapter four: gravestones

a/n: wow ten reviews! thanks muchly! the zora chapter is next, but i couldn't pass up on this side quest.  
  
The Sages' Sheik  
  
.chapter four.  
  
Sheik crept past the graveyard keeper's hut, quiet though the keeper slept like the dead he watched over. No one knew he visited this place and he liked it that way.  
  
He moved silently along the dirt path, nodding his head respectfully to the stones marking his Sheikah ancestors. Their stones were similar to the gossip stones, the Eye watching even over the dead. Impa had explained it the first time she had taken him to Kakariko's graveyard. He was still struggling to understand what she had told him as a three year old.  
  
Finally, he stepped off the path to stand in front of two gravestones. Sheik sank into the overgrown grass and moss surrounding them. He breathed in the alive scent of the plants, smiling a little. There were no monsters here, just the living and the dead.  
  
"No heros either," Sheik muttered to himself before facing the gravestones. He bowed his head a moment, bringing up the memories of a low burly voice singing to him and a plait of blond hair held in his chubby fist. That was all he remembered of them.  
  
"Hello Mother, Father. I haven't been here for a while, mostly 'cus Impa's made me her apprentice. Finally. I was old enough a year ago! Well," Sheik frowned.  
  
"Maybe not, all this new stuff is hard to learn and I can't ask Zelda for help because she's busy with her own stuff." He slumped, knowing it had been a few weeks since Zelda had any time at all to play with him or even talk over lunch.  
  
"I did my first spell yesterday! Impa was so surprised! I guess she was happy I didn't hit her with that fireball. Poor cucco though."  
  
Sheik grinned suddenly.  
  
"We had barbecue cucco for dinner last night. Impa says I have to stay around the castle for more training instead of chasing after Faerie boy."  
  
Sheik stopped, peering at the graves then quickly darted a look around the graveyard. He looked at his knees, plucking at a strand of grass.  
  
"He's very good at some of the stuff Impa's been teaching me." He admitted quietly. "Maybe he has more time than Zelda and could..." Sheik shook his head.  
  
"Nah, he's suppose to be the Hero of Time. That's even more important that being Hyrule's Heir. Besides I have you both to talk to, even if you can't answer my questions."  
  
It started to rain, plastering down Sheik's hair to his face.  
  
"Nice. I hope you're not commenting on how clean my uniform is. Took me hours to climb out of that cave on my own!" He blinked as a raindrop splattered on his nose. Sheik blinked again, hearing an unknown song being played in the graveyard.  
  
The song ended, the rain stopping soon after and Sheik could only stare over the stones at the boy standing a few feet away. Faerie boy was looking right at him, lowering the clay ocarina from his mouth.  
  
"Hi," Faerie boy said.  
  
"Ah, hi." Sheik's curiousity got the better of him. "What was that song?"  
  
"Sun's Song. Navi told me stories about it, so I went looking for the notes." He shrugged a shoulder, taking a seat beside Sheik in the quickly drying grass.  
  
"Navi?" Sheik asked. A faerie shot out of the future Hero's green hat, trilling loudly.  
  
"She's Navi. I'm Link." Link stated. "Do you want to learn the song too?" He asked. "Little boys shouldn't go into the royal crypt. It's...scary down there." Link shuddered.  
  
"I'm not little!" Sheik exclaimed, then bit his tongue before saying he'd been in just as many scary spots as the other boy had. Link probably wouldn't like to know that he was being followed on Zelda's orders. Probably just as much as he liked being called little by a boy only a year older than himself.  
  
"You really would teach me the song?" He questioned hopefully.  
  
"Sure." Link smiled and brought the ocarina to his mouth once more.  
  
end of chapter four. 


	5. chapter five: ruto and rubes

disclaimer in first chapter. a/n: getting near the end of childhood, ganondorf will be showing up next *grins*  
  
The Sages' Sheik  
  
.chapter five.  
  
He pulled off his cloak, wringing out the water in a puddle beside his damp boots. Sheik flung back a soddened fringe of hair off his face. He grimaced when it began to drip down the back of his tunic.  
  
"Stupid waterfall." Draping the still damp cloak over one arm, Sheik headed into the Zoras' Domain. He stood at a vantage point overlooking the wide underground lake within the Domain. Impa had once brought him along with Zelda to visit with the Zora princess.  
  
Sheik grinned, remembering how Impa had yelled at all three of them for sneaking up to the diving cliffs. He hadn't managed to jump off before Impa had grabbed the collar of his tunic.  
  
Zelda, soaking wet in her pink finery with a broad smile, was one of Sheik's favourite memories.  
  
He tilted his head back, spying the diving cliffs high above where he stood. There was no Impa now, Sheik grinned to himself.  
  
He edged over to the cliff, eyes unfocusing at the water far below. It hadn't looked this high when he was with Zelda.  
  
"Well, aren't you going to dive?" The Zora standing off to the side questioned. Sheik took a nervous step forward and froze at the edge. The Zora continued.  
  
"There was another boy who went diving today, just launched himself off." The Zora laughed. "His little faerie was shouting after him to stop."  
  
Sheik looked back at the Zora, then down at the pool. Link did it, he told himself, I can do it too. His body wasn't agreeing with him and remained still on the cliff.  
  
A sigh was heard from behind, then a hard nudge sent him forward a step. A step that wasn't really there. His shriek echoed the Domain, silenced by a loud splash.  
  
Gasping for breath as his head shot above the water, Sheik glared up at the waving Zora atop the cliffs.  
  
"That wasn't so bad, now was it!" The Zora yelled down to him. He floated in the pool, cloak tangling as he swam to shore. It hadn't been that terrible.  
  
Standing in his soddened clothes, Sheik grinned and dashed up the path to the cliffs. He wanted to go again.  
  
*****  
  
Sheik perched on one of the branches floating on the water. He frowned into the water, at the murky view of Lord Jabu-Jabu swimming below. With Link inside its stomach.  
  
It had taken him the rest of the day, after several more dives off the cliff, to find where Link had disappeared to this time. Ruto had also disappeared, but that was normal for her. Sheik could remember a few times when the Zora princess had 'disappeared' into Hyrule Castle for weeks. He frowned, remembering how she teased him constantly during those visits.  
  
Lord Jabu-Jabu had been underwater for two days already. Only a day after the encounter in the graveyard, Link had gone to find the third Spiritual Stone and was swallowed by an over-grown fish.  
  
"Doesn't he ever rest?" Sheik demanded to know from a fish swimming by the log. No answer. He splashed at the water, again staring down to the depths of the lake.  
  
What if the boy couldn't handle the enemies inside the giant fish? What if that faery told him the wrong things? Sheik winced, thinking of all the water enemies he'd run into simply by following Faery boy to the Zoras Domain. He still had welts from the shooting squids.  
  
"He's managed two Spiritual Stones without...a whole lot of help from me. Link will make it," he tried to convince himself.  
  
"Hey! Don't worry so much, he made it. Took his sweet time and was utterly rude to me, but he's already out of the water." Sheik nearly fell off the branch in shock.  
  
"Ruto! You were in there too?" He asked, leaning off the branch to see the Zora princess' amused face.  
  
"Of course I was Rubes, had to get my precious stone back." Sheik grumbled at the nickname, a mess of 'ruby eyes' that Ruto had declared him at age three. "But now Link has it. I even said it was an engagement gift and he still wouldn't leave without it!" Ruto shook her head in surprise. "Boys are dumb, don't you think Rubes?"  
  
She waited for an outraged response and heard nothing as Sheik spotted Link running towards Zora's Domain. She recognized the look on his face, having seen a more adult version on her countless suitors previously. Something a little more than friendship, that would have to be fixed she decided.  
  
"You like him, don't you?" Ruto poked at Sheik slyly, as he watched Faery boy run off. Sheik stared at Ruto, confused. He jumped to his feet.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sheik snapped up a deku nut before disappearing in a flash of light.  
  
"Yeah right, and I'm the crowned prince of Hyrule," Ruto snorted.  
  
.end chapter five. 


	6. chapter six: sacrificial pawn

a/n: thanks Lee Lee and OracleVortex. Smoochies will be accepted if you could dig up a Sheik to give them :)  
  
The Sages' Sheik .chapter six.  
  
Sheik tensed by the window, hands clutching the sil. Down below, Impa was saddling a horse while Zelda stood close, nearly pressed into her bodyguard's side. He sighed with relief, the horse kicked into a gallop.  
  
"There is no hiding now Princess. Give me the Ocarina." Sheik flinched at the voice and quietly closed his eyes. Dressed in one of Zelda's outfits, he was giving the heir, no the Queen of Hyrule time to escape.  
  
Large hands grabbed him and flung him into a wall. "Give me the Ocarina!" was roared into his face.  
  
"No," Sheik whispered, feeling a liquid warmth at the back of his head. Blood, staining another wall in the castle. The King's blood darkening the bright throne room down the hall.  
  
A mage light burned against his eyelids, causing him to cringe against the wall. No, not magic, he couldn't block that! Dodge, trip under, run from, yes those he could do and had done when Impa had chased him out of the kitchens. She had been a little peeved at the spilled flour in her armor. Blocking a spell was near impossible for Sheik.  
  
"Tell me now, you little slu-" Ganondorf stopped, the mage light flickering. Sheik huddled against the wall, blind by necessity, fingers fumbling in the awkward skirts for a deku nut.  
  
A spell was whispered. Sheik felt his body go limp, the nut falling from loose fingers to roll along the floor to the Gerudo's boots. Silence and then "Open your eyes Princess." The command was mocking, even while he struggled against the compulsion spell.  
  
"Open them now!" Bright red eyes snapped wide to stare directly at Ganondorf's angered face. He blinked in shock as that sun tanned face shifted into an odd expression. One of understanding and hatred, that confused Sheik.  
  
"A Sheikah child? Pretending to be your Hylian playmate. What an honourable sacrifice," he scoffed. Ganondorf pocketed the nut from the floor. "I"ll deal with you afterwards." Sheik felt his spine freeze at that tone, one that made him want to hide behind Impa until the monsters had disappeared from under his bed. He was left against the wall, spell weakening as he fought with his own magic.  
  
He wanted the ocarina. Zelda had it, but it was a useless piece of clay without the Spiritual Stones. Absolutely useless...  
  
"Damn that Faery boy!" Sheik threw off the spell in a spat of energy, twisting out of Zelda's skirts even as he pulled another deku nut from his hair. He had to reach Link before Ganondorf did.  
  
******  
  
"Link!" Sheik ran into the musty Temple, pulling at Zelda's tunic still covering his own clothes. He tightened his grip on the few deku nuts he had left.  
  
The three Spiritual Stones hovered gently over the stone dais, illuminating the entrance to the Sacred Realm. The faery boy was already inside, too late to warn him of Ganondorf's invasion. Sheik walked up the steps, peering into the entrance, faintly seeing a pedestal within.  
  
"Link?" he called out again, anxious.  
  
"Is that his name? Your Hero of Time?" Sheik turned, trembling as Ganondorf entered the Temple. He had to stop him from entering the Sacred Realm. Automatically, he took up a defensive pose, earning a chuckle from the Gerudo. "Already choosing sides little Sheikah, without even knowing." The Gerudo shook his head and smiled, causing Sheik to tense further. Why was he smiling? Wasn't he the bad guy? Bad guys do not smile, his mind screamed at him.  
  
Ganondorf moved forward, confidence echoing with each step towards the Realm's entrance. A pace before he reached Sheik's position, the Gerudo stopped. He bent down, looking at the Sheikah's young face. Too young to be fighting, yet too old to be an unknowing pawn, the Gerudo decided and spoke quietly.  
  
"The Princess left you as decoy, a sacrificial pawn in our game. She left you to die."  
  
"She didn't!" Sheik denied impulsively. "I was helping her escape you, you... monster!" He yelled, slightly stunned that he had said anything at all.  
  
"Think carefully little Sheikah. A true monster would have killed you. Your Princess knew this and still left you behind to face me." Ganondorf stood tall, having seen the realization in the boy's pale face.  
  
"Now, will you stand in my way?" He asked, surprised when the Sheikah shook his head affirmatively.  
  
"I'm protecting my friend," he whispered fiercely. Link hadn't left him. No matter what Ganondorf said, that would remain true.  
  
"She doesn't deserve your protection." A large gauntlet shot towards him, gleaming magic resting in its palm. Sheik's last thought before the spell hit was that he did deserve it.  
  
-end chapter six. 


	7. chapter seven: ganondorf's pet

disclaimer in first chapter. a/n: thank you to chibi fairy and nefthoron. you'll want to slap ganondorf a bit more after this.  
  
The Sages' Sheik .chapter seven.  
  
"The sisters are expecting you this morning. Remain with them until I return."  
  
Sheik nodded quietly, fastening his cloak and checking his saddlebags. A large desert dark hand came into view and tilted his head to meet amber eyes.  
  
"That means no exploring without notifying Kotake or Koume first." Sheik grinned up at the Gerudo. How the sisters had shrieked when they couldn't find an eleven year old child in that sandy behemoth! Especially as said child belonged to a more powerful mage than the pair of them together.  
  
"You look so adult, I can hardly see my magelet in you." The Gerudo commented quietly. Sheik glanced down at himself. The word scrawny came to mind at first, then wiry as the weapon master had once confessed after a long, useless spar in which neither had landed a blow. The gerudo women had often called him cute, adorable and other sickly-sweet names. They still did, but with a look to their eyes that made Sheik feel like a prized breeding stud. He flushed a little at that thought.  
  
A hand ruffled his hair, causing his bangs to come loose and hang in his eyes.  
  
"Hey!" Sheik huffed, frowning while trying to push back the wheat-blond strands.  
  
"There's my magelet" was chuckled. "Nearly a full mage. You'll prove your use soon," the Gerudo mumbled to himself, yet Sheik heard.  
  
"Now, you'll stay at the Sanctuary with the sisters. I should return within the week. What is it?" was asked when Sheik opened his mouth and paused in question.  
  
"What if..." he whispered, uncertain. The Gerudo had been moody of late, something to do with the Gorons in the Northern Mountains. He didn't wish to anger his caretaker...  
  
"Yes magelet?"  
  
"If I visit him..." he trailed off again, lowering his eyes to his boots.  
  
"Don't get caught this time little Sheikah," Ganondorf teased. With a whisper of his cloak and magic, the Gerudo left. Sheik smiled at his boots, starting to hum a simple tune from childhood.  
  
********  
  
Kneeling in the hot sand, at someone's feet no less, was not in his original plan. Sheik spat out a bloody mouthful of saliva, the inside of his cheek inflamed from the woman's left hook. Her right had winded him, thus his hunched form in the Spirit Temple's shadow.  
  
"How did you get in here?" Sheik found himself hefted upwards and thrown against the entrance archway. He couldn't answer when an arm leaned on his throat and held him still against the pillar. He relaxed, his training keeping him loose and ready for a second's chance to escape.  
  
"Impa, you cannot expect an answer while crushing his throat." Nabooru's cultured tones startled Sheik. His eyes widened at the approaching gerudo. She sneered at him, looking him up and down. "It's Ganondorf's pet. I did not know he allowed you out of the castle." She pulled Impa's arm back, easing some of the pressure on his throat.  
  
"Explain yourself, before I kill you."  
  
He was fully released from the woman's choke hold and sank gratefully onto the ground. Coughing, he looked up at her, eyes watering from the light reflecting off her steel grey armor. He glanced at Nabooru, busy fiddling with her blade handle and staring down at him as would a hawk its prey. His eyes widened and his mouth felt full of sand from her glare.  
  
"He," here Sheik gulped at the look the armored woman shot. "He left me to the sisters' care while away on Gerudo matters. I was hoping to sneak out."  
  
"Where were you sneaking to?" Nabooru questioned, causing Sheik to duck his head. "Ah, back to that rundown Temple of yours. How many times have you been caught either there or on your way? I would need two more hands just to count!" Nabooru chuckled and turned to the woman. "A boy's game, nothing more."  
  
"What do you call this Temple, what is your child's game?" The grey woman had relaxed, muscles smooth against her armor. Sheik mumbled a response to the sand. He had never to explain himself to Ganondorf: Both knew why he visited the old Temple and it was allowed, if not accepted by the Gerudo.  
  
"Speak up!" Nabooru demanded with a prod of her boot.  
  
"It's the Temple of Time and I go and see if... if Link's woken up yet." He knew they would laugh, the legendary Temple a destroyed building in Castletown, and have no inkling of who Link was or would be. There was no laughter and obviously, Sheik knew nothing, for the grey woman was staring at him, mouth hanging open so slightly.  
  
He was once again slammed against the pillar, by Nabooru this time.  
  
"Who told you of the Temple's location? Does Ganondorf know? Tell us boy!" Sheik winced as his head was rattled on hard stone.  
  
"Sheik?" Nabooru and Sheik booth looked to the grey woman, one in confusion the other with wary curiousity. He hadn't heard that name in years, often being called 'magelet' or a fond 'little Sheikah' by his caretaker. Never that name, which was being repeated by the woman.  
  
"Sheik, you're alive, how..." She trailed off, recalling what Nabooru had said and forced a smile to her face. "It's me, Impa. Do you remember?" She asked hopefully. Sheik nodded hesitantly and found himself pressed into Impa's chest plate, trying to breath as she squeezed him tightly.  
  
"I'm so glad you're alive," she whispered fiercely, releasing him from her arms. Sheik looked at her, puzzled. Hadn't she known about the distraction at the Castle, about his chances to live through... He glanced past Impa, spying a tiny blonde figure in desert robes approaching.  
  
"Impa! Nabooru! What is the matter?" A girl's high voice called out. Sheik looked on in shock as she came closer, became familiar.  
  
"Zelda," he whispered as she paused behind the two women.  
  
"Sheik." Her eyes were as cold as her voice.  
  
-end chapter seven. 


	8. chapter eight: understanding

a/n: chibi! love the link-sheik babble *snicker* thanks muchly to all my reviewers! makes me scribble more in class!  
  
The Sages' Sheik .chapter 8.  
  
Sheik moved easily from the Void onto the faded red carpet lining the Temple hall. No bouts of nausea or disorientation that he'd suffered as a child. He had come to enjoy the brief moments within the void as one might enjoy the prickling sensation from a sleeping limb. It was more welcoming than Zelda had been.  
  
He grimaced at the memory. She had yelled until the Sisters had returned, then only leaving with Impa's hand clamped over her mouth and a hateful look in her eyes. Was he a traitor because he had not died for her? Wasn't that only for heroes? He wondered idly from his crouch on the floor. He stood, quietly letting his senses focus on the low-lying hum of the Temple.  
  
Once, Ganondorf had found him sitting by the dais. When asked what he was doing, Sheik had replied in a dazed voice that he was listening to the breathing. As a child, untrained, he could hear Link's slumbering breath.  
  
Link's heartbeat thrummed in the stone foundation, slow and calm. No dreaming today, Sheik thought.  
  
"So our Hero has a Sheikah." There was a knife drawn and pointed between the old man's twinkling eyes before the sentence was finished. "A jumpy one at that." The stout, balding man added with a quirk of his lips. Sheik flushed red, but didn't lower his weapon.  
  
"Perhaps wise as well." The man clasped his hands in front of himself. "Tell me Sheikah, what do you hear in my Temple?"  
  
"A heartbeat," Sheik answered without thought, puzzled by the man's claim of ownership. The quirk of lips turned into a tiny smile. "Who are you?" He asked.  
  
"I am Rauru, Sage of Light. This is my Temple, where the Hero of Time will awaken and banish the Darkness from Hyrule." He wore a broad grin now. "I've been waiting for seven years for a little boy to grow up, plenty of time to make up fancy speeches, wouldn't you agree?" Sheik chuckled in response.  
  
"I have also had much time to watch you little Sheikah," Rauru added. Sheik's laughter faded away. "The Queen Zelda has much to learn before she can take her place in this war. Do not trouble yourself over her childish names." Sheik sighed, looking downcast at his boots, scuffing the carpet in shame.  
  
"I have a task for you, if you wish to aide our Hero." At this, Sheik looked from his boots to Rauru. Not help Hyrule or Zelda, but Link. "Tell him of the Sages, the Temples, help him with knowledge so that he may carry out his duty."  
  
Sheik stared past, hearing Link's stirrings as he slowly woke from a seven year sleep.  
  
Ganondorf kept him out of the warfare while Zelda's cold eyes declared him excommunicate to the Hyrule forces, yet Link's only duty was to stop evil.  
  
A Sheikah could do worse in protecting such a person.  
  
********  
  
He tensed as the sword scrapped from its scabbard, keeping still while Link lowered the Mastersword. The faery hovered protectively over Link's hat, glaring at him. Sheik smiled behind his desert cloak.  
  
Link was older, but he noticed the unwieldy pull of the sword, the slight amazement from now adult strength and the awkward balance in his stance. A memory from the past trapped in the future, the thought came to Sheik as he observed the grown faery boy. Even so, Link looked... right to Sheik's eyes. He looked like the Hero of Time and Sheik told him so.  
  
With some hesitance, Sheik relayed the knowledge of the five sages and their temples, the locations and threats Link would face in order to defeat them. He saw the shock and fear plainly on Link's face as he spoke of the Forest Sage.  
  
Rauru had told him of Link's childhood friend, one of the immortal kokiri, and her fate once Ganondorf had invaded Hyrule. Uncertainty had filled Sheik then, even as he remembered the Gerudo's teachings from their evening chess games in the castle.  
  
"Do not ignore your enemies, even ones that seem innocent and passive magelet, for they are the ones who will mean your defeat one day." The phrase still rung in his mind as he asked Link if he understood.  
  
He didn't know himself what the Gerudo had meant, stepping back from the Hero of Time nervously. As Link approached, trying to stop him from leaving, he threw down a deku nut and disappeared.  
  
-end chapter 8. 


	9. chapter nine: simulacrum

a/n: the reviews got me going again THANKS MUCHLY!

even if i was stuck on this chapter *mutters at muse*

The Sages Sheik

.chapter nine.

Stretch to fifth, hold the string to dim the tone, playing the awkward instrument had become second nature to Sheik. The tune echoed among the ruined pillars marking the entrance to the Forest Temple. The place was empty now. There was no little girl on the tree stump, playing cheerfully in spite of what was occurring outside the Kokori's forest.

He hadn't been surprised that the little girl was the Sage of the Forest. Every time he snuck out of the castle to play, and later on, to just walk through crisp leaves and moss-grown trails, she was by the Temple, always playing her tune. She was as much a part of the forest as the trees.

Sheik heard the minor shift in his music before he realized his hands had moved on the strings.

"It's not much of a forest without her," he mused. "But this is war, there are prisoners and..." Sheik sighed, fingers uncertain on the strings while he thought. He continued to play until soft boot steps were heard on the grass.

******

Sheik watched from overhanging tree branches, humming along with Link as he practiced the Minuet once again. The duet had reminded him of that day in the graveyard, a happier time with no thought of war. 

Although, he reminded himself, Link was preparing for war along with Zelda before the threat was truly alive. That the threat was his caretaker tore at Sheik too many hours of the day. He determinedly turned his attention to the green figure below.

The Hero of Time had not shown any recognition back in the Temple of Time. The grown Faery boy was still curious to a fault, trying to stop him from leaving, to talk with him. Sheik felt a smile creep onto his face. He pulled a deku nut off a nearby scrub and vanished in a flash of light.

******

The Gallery was dimly lit by candles, illuminating the barren paintings and iron fences. It made him nervous. There was a similar gallery in the Gerudo's castle, a quiet out of the way hall where a few of the guards had tried to- He shook himself and focused on the spell work lacing the room. 

Sheik saw the triggers for the sage's release, saw the markers for Link in the magic and stopped himself from nudging them open a crack. He peered at the gleam of defensive magic, recognizing his Caretaker's touch to the spell. He triggered it, curious to what kind of defense the Gerudo hoped to use against the Hero of Time. Sheik found himself gasping and stumbling backwards, only to thump into another solid form.

Sheik looked upwards from his ungraceful pile on the floor. 

"Knowing your curiousity, the trigger spells are modified to Hylians." He shifted to sit on his heels, only now noticing the detailing on the trigger spell under his hands.

"A simulacrum? It's a useless thing, I can destroy one on my own. But you know this, you told me about the weaknesses yourself!" Sheik stared up at the Gerudo, confused thoughts trying to make sense of his plans. Ganondorf simply waited for the connections to be made, strategy to take hold in his Sheikah's thoughts.

"You're only testing him." Sheik slumped his spine against the Gerudo's legs, an unnamed tension releasing in his body.

"I will not ignore my enemies, even if they be your companions." Ganondorf reset the spell work, his simulacrum dissipating into the paintings. He looked down at his magelet, resignation clear in a simple nod against his knee.

"Come along Sheikah. He will be here soon." The boy followed him quietly through the iron gates, leaving the Gallery and the Forest Temple.

-end chapter nine.


	10. chapter ten: volvie

disclaimer in first chapter. a/n: blame the harry potter muse for delay! I kept writing Voldie throughout this bit. comments are lovely, danke.  
  
.The Sages Sheik.  
  
His cheeks were flushed red under his white cloak, his hands gripping the harp tightly. He felt panicked by the look Link was giving him across the bridge and dazed by the intrusion of another's mind. His mouth made the shapes and he uttered another metaphoric line of friendship on fire. Sheik felt a shudder run along his spine at Link's slight smile. His cheeks were likely to be as red as the lava below them. He was going to kill her for this, as soon as she released his mind from her meddling claws.  
  
A serpentine hiss rolled through his thoughts, chuckles preceding the mental admonishment of killing off friends. Sheik thought loudly of how friends did not take over one another's bodies and make them say such things... He flushed bright crimson with the addition of images with the hissing words.  
  
His body continued on without him, fingers plucking out the War March for Link. It was named the Bolero of Fire, but Sheik had renamed it after the fall of Hyrule Castle. The straight laced tempo matched the marching of the guards, the melody to the sisters' cackling battle plans with his caretaker.  
  
A wall of flame blocked Link's approach and one long, scaly red limb ending with claws jutted out of the lava to pull Sheik out of sight in Death Mountain's rocky crater. When he caught sight of her slit-pupil eyes, he frowned deeply only to squeak as she trailed a claw over his ticklish ribs.  
  
"Volvie!" The giant red dragon hissed with humour, holding Sheik up to her face to grin with brilliant, oversized teeth. "Look, just because you think I need more friends," Sheik trailed off, hearing Volvagia's disapproving clicks at the wistfulness tingeing his thoughts. "I don't like being a puppet Volvie." A rasping tongue was the following apology. Her amusement did not end though.  
  
Sheik peered at her, uncertain of what he had done to give her a case of the giggles. A dragon making soft hissing noises, vaguely sinister in tone, would make full grown Gorons run in the opposite direction. Sheik's reaction was less survival, and more indignation.  
  
"What?" He demanded to know. The thoughts behind her soothing warbles made him blush anew. "I don't need a mate and you're forgetting something. Link's male!" His voice echoed in the empty lava tunnels. He clutched at Volvagia's claws as she brought him into her lair proper deep within the mountain.  
  
She dropped him to her nest above the lava, patting his head and curling about him with a snort of hot air. Sheik had the impression that was not an excuse in her mind.  
  
"People are at war, Volvie. He might not live through it." The dragon pitched back her head and keened, the lava churning in her pain. Sheik pressed his cheek to her scales, her memories of the last great war shifting through his head. A fiery dragon flying over Death Mountain, burning the Hylians from its rocky face.  
  
"Your mate died," he whispered. Volvagia lowered her head, staring at him with golden eyes.  
  
"Yours won't," she hissed.  
  
*****  
  
Sheik dodged the guards, silently entering his caretaker's tower. No organ music carried down the winding steps, a sign that he was at work or in meeting with the sisters. He continued upwards, wishing only to say good evening before disappearing into his rooms for the night.  
  
At the door, he paused in surprise. He had just heard Volvagia being discussed, in the sisters' cackling voices.  
  
"We left a cow for the dragon." One sister said.  
  
"An offering filled with our special potion." The other gleefully crowed.  
  
"What will this potion do?" Sheik's caretaker questioned. Sheik strained his ears, fear lining his thoughts.  
  
"The dragon will go into a rage and attack whomever enters her nest." Both sisters laughed, causing Sheik to flinch.  
  
"Link will die at last."  
  
He ran. The door blocked his sight of Ganondorf turning in his direction and smiling ever so slightly.  
  
*****  
  
Jumping from the void with the War March still on his lips, Sheik ran blindly down the tunnels. His magic disabled all the traps, the pillars holding firm as he hurried to a door deep within the Fire Temple.  
  
Volvagia's screams filled his ears, her voice scaling in octaves with her pain and fury. A shrill roar of anger echoed through the mountain, followed by a rush of flames that tickled in the cracks of the nest's entrance. He opened the door and slide down to an outcrop of rock, unable to reach the nest's platform.  
  
Link held the Goron's hammer with both hands, dodging Volvagia's breath and claws while trying for her head. Sheik stared in confusion, looking to the docile lava surrounding the nest and Volvagia's clumsy attacks.  
  
She could have ended this fight, swamped Link with lava and hidden deep within her mountain, even with the rage to protect her nest running high. The sisters would only cast more spells, use more potions and bring her to the war once again, and Volvagia didn't wish to win. She had said Link would not die.  
  
"No, please don't." Sheik could only watch as Volvagia left herself open to attack and Link swung the hammer hard, thinking the dragon was of Ganondorf's army. Her final cry was met with tears.  
  
The blue gleam of Link being taken to the Chamber of the Sages left Sheik stepping onto the platform. His hand brushed over the bloody gap of scales where her heart had been removed by the hero.  
  
"You're not a monster," Sheik told her, bloody hand stroking her mane.  
  
.end chapter 10. 


	11. chapter eleven: warmth

disclaimer in first chapter. we're nearing the end :)  
  
.The Sages' Sheik.  
  
He startled at the sounds of climbing up the side of the statue. A muffled unlady like curse made him lean out of the stone hand, to watch the princess move slowly up the toeholds and crevices to the outstretched arm.  
  
"What do you want?" he demanded, sprawling against curled stone fingers. Zelda hitched up her dress and stood shakily on the elbow.  
  
"Impa told me you've been up here all night." She balanced her way down the stone limb, eyes determinedly glued on his hiding spot. She faltered as he returned the look.  
  
"You've been crying?" She gazed over his damp face and the red-rimmed eyes. "Over one of Ganondorf's monsters?"  
  
"She wasn't Ganondorf's monster, no more than I am." He looked away, scrubbing at his cheeks.  
  
"You're on our side, you don't belong to him-"  
  
"No, I belong to you, to the Sages now. Traded from one owner to another without notice." From the corner of his eye, he saw Zelda flinch and sit awkwardly at the wrist. He sat up and faced the princess, his childhood friend.  
  
"My friend died. No matter the war, can't I mourn?" He asked.  
  
Heavy footsteps echoed in the chamber, silencing Zelda even as her mouth opened to protest. A deep voice called out.  
  
"Magelet?" He pushed Zelda into his hiding spot, a hand holding her mouth shut. He crushed a deku nut between his fingers and stepped from the void to stand in front of the Gerudo.  
  
Cheeks still damp and eyes raw from the tears, Sheik stared at the Gerudo, who carefully looked him over before speaking.  
  
"Do you cry for your dragon?" The Gerudo asked quietly. His head jerked in a nod and fresh tears filled his eyes. He was clutched at one shoulder, gruff affection under the chill armour and gloves.  
  
"You're so cold. Have you been to the far north?" He asked, feeling warmth return as he pulled away from Ganondorf.  
  
"Yes, after visiting the Zoras. They have declared themselves neutral," the Gerudo smiled. "There will be no battles fought there." Sheik nodded, a smile also tracing his mouth. "Enjoy yourself, my Sheikah, the battles have quieted today." He nodded and under his caretaker and his owner's eyes, left the sanctuary.  
  
*****  
  
Sheik walked through the frozen surfaces of Zora's Domain. Everywhere he looked, ice and snow and frozen bodies met his eyes. He shivered and pulled his cloak tighter around himself. He scaled the steps to the Royal Chambers, finding Ruto and her father in great blocks of ice. He rested a hand against the block holding Ruto caged, recalling the chill hands of the Gerudo earlier that day.  
  
"The Zoras were neutral, you told me so." His fist thunked painfully on the ice. He nearly fell at the rush of impulsive magic, hearing the tinkling of breaking ice.  
  
"Why are you crying Rubes and why is it freezing in here?" Ruto's petulant voice made him smile and swipe at his eyes, surprised by the dampness.  
  
"I'm so sorry Ruto." He apologized, the first link of his leash breaking free.  
  
*****  
  
Sheik saw Link swim to the island, arms lagging and tunic in shreds. He winced at Link's slow, careful movements onto the island's shore. He moved out of hiding, scuffing his boots on the grass so to not startle the Hero.  
  
"Morpha, for something so small, is quite deadly." Sheik helped him to his feet, smiling as Link grinned back tiredly.  
  
"Princess Ruto told me you said hi," Link chuckled then grabbed at his ribs in pain.  
  
"Sit back. I'll check your ribs, just hold still." Sheik helped with a firm hand on Link's shoulder. As he checked the bones, tracing the clothed torso for breaks and shifts, Link spoke of the Water Temple. The Hero dozed off as he adjusted the last bandage.  
  
"What am I suppose to do with you now?" Sheik questioned idly, fingers playing with Link's gold-shot hair.  
  
*****  
  
Sheik watched the fire dance in the wind coming off the lake. The water rippled in his sight, no moon reflecting off its tiny waves. A murmur and a warm body stretched out at his side; Link resting, bandaged and bruised in the fire's glow.  
  
"Where am I?" was whispered, the voice raw from water and exhaustion.  
  
"Lake Hylia," Sheik replied, helping the Hero sit up without pulling on his injuries. He couldn't help but smile as Link stared at him, puzzled eyes taking in the desert robe and uniform along with his uncovered face.  
  
"You're younger than I thought," Link said after a minute of staring. Sheik shrugged and looked to the fire.  
  
"War makes wise men out of toddlers, Hero." His caretaker had said such a thing before. He would not like this situation, grudging enough with the visits to Link during his slumber and unaware of his aide to the Hero of Time. A pet slinking through the gate and returning when the master called, Sheik kept his angered eyes on the fire. Ruto, captured in ice reminded him that Ganondorf no longer held his leash.  
  
"You sound wise, but a toddler?" Link's eyes trailed over Sheik's body, molded into the tight Sheikah uniform, causing him to flush red at the cheeks. Link smiled and chuckled softly. "You look as you did in the Fire Temple, although I did not see the blush," he remarked more gently as Sheik toyed with a deku nut in one hand.  
  
Hylia Lake was quiet at night, the fire crackling in their silence. Far off, an owl's call filled the night. A lull in the storm of war, this night would be called.  
  
"Why did you stay?" Link asked, one eyebrow lifted in curiousity. "You always leave so quickly, before I can talk to you."  
  
"I didn't wish to be caught helping you before." Sheik did not mention how Ganondorf's men would treat his betrayal. Breathing would be a near impossibility after that.  
  
"And now?" Link's question woke him from his bloody imaginings.  
  
"I chose my side, I can't go back."  
  
It struck him then. He couldn't go back home. Only the enemy and his stronghold awaited him there, his caretaker the monster Zelda had always claimed him to be.  
  
He didn't realize he was shaking until warm arms held him still, or that he was crying until his voice broke on a sob against a blue clothed shoulder.  
  
.end chapter eleven. 


End file.
